In April 2019, Mark Valenzuela, Pablo Capati, and Babbu Wenceslao will take up residence at the University of Tasmania’s School of Creative Arts to create a collaborative work especially for the Triennale. Combining ceramics, sculpture, drawing and performance, Tambay will centre on a small structure that references the street-side stalls common to the artists’ home country of the Philippines.

Street stalls in the Philippines offer a range of inexpensive goods and services. In Tambay, the entrepreneurial ingenuity of street vendors becomes a means to explore a broader culture in the Philippines of making creative use of limited resources. The artists consider the impact of this culture on their own art practices and engagement with clay.

Often incorporating a place to sit, street stalls also act as public spaces where people can gather to talk or rest. The Tagalog word tambay (or istamby) is derived from the English term ‘on standby’ and is commonly used to describe individuals who spend their days hanging out, for lack of work, school or other ‘productive’ activity. InTambay, however, the artists consider the educative function of public spaces such as street stalls, once again drawing parallels between this cultural context and their approaches to art making. Each artist recognises the contribution of informal education to their art practice, which has been facilitated by a cultural context that emphasises spending time with peers and working collaboratively.

Located in the forecourt of PW1 for the duration of the Triennale, Tambay will likewise function as a place for people to gather or take some time out. The artists will be present at the installation, undertaking various daily activities and welcoming visitors to interact them and their work.

Learn more about Tambay and the Boxplot artists. 

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